Konstanz’s Old Town: A Stroll through 1,000 Years of History

Konstanz’s first settlers lived in stilt houses perhaps as many as 5,000 years ago, long before the Romans built a castle here, or the city became an important bishop’s seat in the Middle Ages.

On this walking tour of Konstanz’s Old Town, you’ll learn about this gateway to the scenic Lake Constance region, and find out how its proximity to Switzerland spared it from being bombed during World War II, leaving all these different historical periods intact.

Our tour of the Old Town starts next to the almost 1000-year-old Münster Unserer Lieben Frau, Konstanz’s most important church and one of the largest Romanic Churches in South-West Germany. We’ll zig-zag through alleys dating back to Roman times, so you don’t miss the most interesting historic houses. Some, like Hohe Haus and Haus Zum Goldenen Löwen, are medieval ‘tower houses’ with beautiful frescos on the exteriors, which are common in Italy but very rare in Germany.

Halfway through the tour, you’ll walk along a small stretch of Lake Constance. Here, you’ll see the 10-meter-tall Imperia statue that towers over the harbor and rotates every four minutes, and hear why it’s so scandalous.

After a short walk through Konstanz’s oldest part of town, Niederburg, the tour will end, back at the Münster, or cathedral.

During this hour-long tour you’ll have the opportunity to:

• Climb the Münster’s tower for a breathtaking view of Konstanz, the surrounding lake, and the Swiss, Austrian, and German Alps
• Understand why Prussia’s rise to power began in Konstanz
• Pass through Stephansplatz square and the city’s former red light district (Sankt Johann Gasse) and learn about the role prostitutes played during the Council of Constance in the 1400s
• Try local specialities like Maultaschen (a type of German ravioli) in Konzilgebäude restaurant, housed in the almost 800-year-old Council House
• Find out how a lonely lady who was ridiculed because of her appearance finally found some solace in Konstanz outside Restaurant Zur Wendelgard, which bears her name
• Feel relieved that medieval methods of punishment are no longer in use at the City Hall, where you’ll see slits near the windows from which leaders would secretly watch executions on Obermarkt, a market square
• Ponder what a naked bottom above the entrance to a medieval house might have symbolized

So get ready to join me on this fun walk through history, in one of Southern Germany’s most beautiful towns.